LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) Signs Multi-Year Extension with Merlin
Rhea-AI Summary
LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) signed a multi-year extension with Merlin to continue global licensing of Merlin's independent-label catalog. The deal converts up to $3.75M of current and future royalties into equity at $7.50 per share and provides access to 25M+ songs. LiveOne expects an increase of $2M+ in cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA, and says the extension improves its balance sheet and expands catalog for artists and fans.
Positive
- Conversion of up to $3.75M of royalties into equity at $7.50 per share
- Access to a global catalog of 25M+ songs from Merlin partners
- Expected increase of $2M+ in cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA
Negative
- Issuing equity to convert royalties may cause share dilution for existing LVO shareholders
- Royalty-to-equity conversion could reduce future royalty cash receipts if fully executed
News Market Reaction – LVO
On the day this news was published, LVO declined 1.16%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction. Argus tracked a trough of -12.8% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 4 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. This price movement removed approximately $705K from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $60M at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
LVO is up 1.78% while peers show mixed moves: CNVS -3.37%, MPU -21.82%, NIPG +0.38%, others flat. This points to stock-specific drivers rather than a sector-wide move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25 | Cost-cut, AI update | Positive | +0.0% | Announced AI-driven cost cuts, headcount reduction, and $14M liability elimination. |
| Feb 23 | Distribution expansion | Positive | +3.6% | App launch on VIZIO smart TVs expanding reach to 1.3B+ MAUs. |
| Feb 12 | Q3 earnings | Neutral | -3.1% | Reported lower revenue but positive Adjusted EBITDA and major OpEx cuts. |
| Feb 11 | Earnings date set | Neutral | +5.7% | Announced Q3 results date and webcast with business update details. |
| Feb 05 | Prelim results | Positive | -5.6% | Issued upbeat preliminary revenue and Adjusted EBITDA with large OpEx reductions. |
Recent news often showed price divergences from seemingly positive or neutral announcements, with only one clear aligned reaction.
Over the past month, LVO issued multiple updates on cost cuts, product distribution, and financials. On Feb 25, it highlighted >$5M AI-driven savings and liability reductions but saw no price move. App expansion to VIZIO on Feb 23 coincided with a 3.63% gain. Earnings-related releases on Feb 5 and Feb 12 featured revenue declines but improving Adjusted EBITDA, with mixed to negative reactions. Today’s Merlin extension fits the ongoing focus on balance-sheet repair and platform scale.
Regulatory & Risk Context
An S-3 shelf filed on Aug 29, 2025 registers resale of existing holders’ stock and warrants, with the company itself only receiving up to $30,000 if all registered warrants are exercised for cash. The filing highlights substantial doubt about continuing as a going concern, significant indebtedness, Nasdaq listing risk, and dependence on content licensing and a cryptocurrency treasury strategy.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement extends LiveOne’s Merlin partnership while converting up to $3.75M of current and future royalties into equity at $7.50 per share. Management expects a $2M+ improvement in cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA, alongside access to 25M+ additional songs. In light of recent filings citing revenue pressure and going‑concern risks, investors may watch how this structure affects recurring royalty costs, catalog engagement, and future equity issuance activity.
Key Terms
Adjusted EBITDA* financial
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
- Converts up to
$3.75M of current and future royalites into equity at$7.50 per share - Provides access to 25M+ songs from Merlin’s global catalog
- Expect an increase of
$2M + in cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA*
LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO), an award-winning, creator-first music, entertainment and technology platform, today announced a multi-year extension of its global licensing partnership with Merlin, the digital music licensing partner representing many of the world’s leading independent labels and distributors.
“Independent music is one of the most powerful drivers of discovery across streaming platforms,” said Robert Ellin, Chairman and CEO of LiveOne. “This extension with Merlin not only strengthens our long-standing relationship but also improves our balance sheet while positioning LiveOne to significantly expand our catalog and deliver even more value to artists and fans.”
About LiveOne
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO) is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment, and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. LiveOne's subsidiaries include Slacker, PodcastOne (Nasdaq: PODC), PPVOne, Custom Personalization Solutions, LiveXLive, DayOne Music Publishing, Drumify and Splitmind. LiveOne, a dedicated over-the-top application powered by Slacker, is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Spotify, Samsung, Amazon Fire, Android TV, and through STIRR's OTT applications. For more information, visit liveone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X at @liveone. For more investor information, please visit ir.liveone.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are “forward-looking statements,” which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “would,” “should,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “could,” “believe,” “seek,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “predict,” “potential,” “target” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: LiveOne’s reliance on its largest OEM customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; LiveOne’s ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, special dividend, merger, distribution or transaction, the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance stockholder value; LiveOne’s ability to continue as a going concern; LiveOne’s ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its users and paid members; LiveOne identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; LiveOne’s ability to implement its recently announced digital asset treasury strategy and/or purchase digital assets from time to time pursuant to such strategy, including for the maximum announced amount, and other risks related to such strategy; LiveOne’s intent to repurchase shares of its and/or PodcastOne’s common stock from time to time under LiveOne’s announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; LiveOne’s ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other debt covenants; LiveOne successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management’s relationships with industry stakeholders; LiveOne’s ability to repay its indebtedness when due; LiveOne’s ability to satisfy the conditions for closing on its announced additional convertible debentures financing; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings and/or LiveOne’s ability to pay any amounts due in connection with any such legal proceedings; significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty and risks related to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets; regulatory developments related to digital assets and digital asset markets; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of LiveOne’s subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in LiveOne’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 15, 2025, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, filed with the SEC on November 14, 2025, and in LiveOne’s other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and LiveOne disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. LiveOne intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures*
To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), we present Contribution Margin (Loss) and Adjusted Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”), which are non-GAAP financial measures, as measures of our performance. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, or superior to, operating loss and or net income (loss) or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP or as an alternative to net cash provided by operating activities or any other measures of our cash flows or liquidity.
We use Contribution Margin (Loss) and Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate the performance of our operating segment. We believe that information about these non-GAAP financial measures assists investors by allowing them to evaluate changes in the operating results of our business separate from non-operational factors that affect operating income (loss) and net income (loss), thus providing insights into both operations and the other factors that affect reported results. Adjusted EBITDA is not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP. A limitation of the use of Adjusted EBITDA as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain amortizing assets used in generating revenue in our business. Accordingly, Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Furthermore, this measure may vary among other companies; thus, Adjusted EBITDA as presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.
Contribution Margin (Loss) is defined as Revenue less Cost of Sales before (a) Cost of Sales share-based compensation expense, (b) depreciation, and (c) amortization of developed technology. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, other (income) expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization and before (a) non-cash GAAP purchase accounting adjustments for certain deferred revenue and costs, (b) legal, accounting and other professional fees directly attributable to acquisition activity, (c) employee severance payments and third party professional fees directly attributable to acquisition or corporate realignment activities, (d) certain non-recurring expenses associated with legal settlements or reserves for legal settlements in the period that pertain to historical matters that existed at acquired companies prior to their purchase date and a one-time minimum guarantee to effectively terminate a live events distribution agreement post COVID-19, and (e) certain stock-based compensation expense. Management does not consider these costs to be indicative of our core operating results.
With respect to projected quarterly or full fiscal year Adjusted EBITDA, a quantitative reconciliation is not available without unreasonable efforts due to the high variability, complexity and low visibility with respect to purchase accounting adjustments, acquisition-related charges and legal settlement reserves excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. We expect that the variability of these items to have a potentially unpredictable, and potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.
LiveOne Press Contact:
Follow LiveOne on social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X at @liveone.
FAQ
What did LiveOne announce on March 10, 2026 regarding Merlin and LVO?
How many songs will LiveOne gain access to through the Merlin extension (LVO)?
What is the financial impact expected from the Merlin deal on LiveOne (LVO)?
How does the royalty conversion at $7.50 per share affect LVO shareholders?
Is the royalty conversion in the LiveOne and Merlin deal guaranteed to be completed?
